Very Little Known Facts About U.S. Presidents

As President Day nears it’s time we look back and realize that despite the occasional history program on the now “All Alien, All the Time” History Channel, there is still a lot we don’t know about our nation’s former leaders. Here are just a few relatively unknown facts…

George Washington Died Four Days into His Presidency

Thanks to what was then called “The Devil’s Minute Horn of Wretched Wickedness” but what we now commonly refer to as a “splinter,” President Washington dropped dead shortly after being sworn in. Naturally, any word that the first leader of the struggling new nation had died would have been disastrous for America. So instead the government hired imitators to be the President at all events and paintings. That is why Washington looks so different from portrait to portrait, appearing tall and regal in one, short and dumpy in another, and Korean in yet another. And to further convince people each actor was indeed Washington, the powdered wig was created as a form of “presidential disguise,” a practice that continued for all leaders until Thomas Jefferson created cloning in 1816.

The Electoral College Was Based on a Drunken Ramble from John Adams

In order to fulfill the dream of a true democratic republic, the nation’s leaders had to find a away to give every voter a voice without creating mob rule. That’s when John Adams came stumbling in drunk on his brother Sam’s brew and—in a loud voice punctuated by the occasional belch—created the Electoral College, a process in which each state chose electors equal to their number of Senate and House seats combined. These electors would then burn a witch. The witch would then emit a plume of white smoke that formed a magical Patronus, which in turn would designate the tallest non-twin individual in America as Emperor. Fortunately, the rest of the committee rewrote the notes Adams had scrawled on a cocktail napkin from a Dear Goodness ‘Tis Friday bar.

John F. Kennedy Created NASA for Extramarital Affairs

Hoping to find a place that not even the most intrepid reporter could learn he was having an affair with three White House assistants and a midget, JFK tasked all scientists to build him a secret rocket to the moon. (Hopefully before the Soviet Union could build its own “Peoples Make-Out Point” there.). There, the President could do as he pleased on his secret moon base, being looked after by moon bots while hopefully discovering a race of scantily clad moon women. Alas, word of the program got out when Marilyn Monroe mentioned something about a “Nookie Aeronautics and Space Administration“ program on the set of what proved to be her last film, forcing the President to replace the bikini model astronaut with a less scandalous Alan Shepard instead.

Richard Nixon Killed Abraham Lincoln

And so the truth behind the missing 18 minutes on President Nixon’s secret Watergate tapes can finally be revealed. Nixon had long been jealous of President Lincoln’s historical popularity, not to mention Abe’s astounding 16 terms at office. And so over the now repaired audiotape we can hear a manic Nixon screaming, “I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna do it!” as he loads a gun while Secretary of State Henry Kissinger warns him that time travel is still in its infancy. Then there is a quick whoosh, followed by another, only for Nixon to return apparently covered in blood and yelling, “I did it! And I paid some out-of-work actor six cents to take the credit!” Alas, only then did Nixon realize that by killing Lincoln the “butterfly effect” had also killed all the dinosaurs that still roamed free in the early 1970’s..

Benjamin Franklin Was President for One Day

Benjamin Franklin—Founding Father, inventor, author, postmaster, scientist, diplomat, MC, and winner of Mother May’s Hardtack Biscuit “President for a Day” contest. Although the title was meant to be honorary with no real power, Benjamin Franklin used his one day in office to reduce the number of Supreme Court Justices from 823 to nine, create a U.S. military complex that didn’t rely on the hope of one day training dragons, redraw the Presidential Seal so that it no longer featured a flipped middle finger, and single-handedly design, build, and pilot the very first Air Force One before coming up with the idea of charging extra for carry-on luggage.

Martin Van Buren Is Still President of the United States

Due to a slip-up while being read his inauguration oath, Eighth President of the United States Martin Van Buren was effectively sworn in as leader for life. And although he served only one term and has been dead for 150 years, Van Buren must still be consulted on all matters and give his okay before any President can proceed on a military attack, economic plan or even congratulate Super Bowl winners. Exactly how this is done remains a mystery to this day, although it seems to involve a Ouija board, some tarot cards, and yelling out loud at his grave while waiting for a response.

Do you know any little known facts about U.S. presidents? Let us know in the comments!

NEW Smosh Gear

What's a Smosh

Smosh is the home of the best funny videos, games, photos, memes, blogs and galleries online. See the funniest YouTube videos, pictures and images online or chat with Smosh readers in our online forums. See cartoons and comics daily as well as our original series like Ian Is Bored and Lunchtime w/Smosh. Smosh is the brainchild of Anthony Padilla and Ian Hecox, and Smosh.com focuses on everything humorous, funny, or awesome from around the web.

If all that isn't enough, our friends are serving you free movies in HD for your viewing pleasure. Check 'em out!